


like it was yesterday

by JehBeeEh



Series: One-Shots from Across the Multiverse [17]
Category: Marvel's Avengers (Video Game)
Genre: Bearded Tony Stark, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fangirl Kamala Khan, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Kamala ships them, M/M, Secret Relationship, Sorta kinda, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, They Get Hugs, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26548984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JehBeeEh/pseuds/JehBeeEh
Summary: Steve wandered through the common room, for the hundredth time thinking he should get something healthy in those soda machines. Things had quieted down just a bit and he’d enjoyed catching up with everyone and getting to know the newcomers just a bit better too. He wasn’t sure how long he could stand things being too quiet, but for now, he’d take it. The missions Maria had lined up for them would help keep him and the team busy at least.Before he realized it, Steve was standing in front of the windows to the tech lab staring at Tony working on one of the Iron Man armours. He stood there for a long minute, unable to tear his eyes away from Tony. For all his catching up, Tony was the only one he hadn’t been able to chat with more than on the short ride back to earth. They’d gotten back and immediately been thrust into battles and missions and saving the world once again. And then, Tony had locked himself up in the tech lab more often than he was anywhere else, as far as Steve could tell.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: One-Shots from Across the Multiverse [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1656748
Comments: 21
Kudos: 137





	like it was yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> So... The fine folks that created this video game really DID ship these two, and are fanfic fans, I firmly believe. They also found a way to make a plot I had written into a video game! (If you plan on playing Marvel's Avengers, and don't want to know what happens, back out of this fic now, and save it for later!)
> 
> If you've read my fics before, you might remember a certain fic called 'No Comment', where our fave idiots are secretly dating, and then Steve goes missing/is presumed dead, and Tony tries to find him, only to find out months later he's been in cryo this whole time because of Hydra. So yes, that's the basic plot of this video game, with months turning to years, and Hydra turning to AIM - which I didn't realize for WAY too long, btw!  
> So, for all intents and purposes, this is a weird continuation/ending to No Comment (which I was never able to finish and proceeded to delete cause I had wedge myself in a corner cause of horrible plot holes), but set in the video game 'verse instead of the MCU.  
> And, Kamala is my fave thing EVER! She is many of us, and I 100% believe she'd ship them too ;)

Steve wandered through the common room, for the hundredth time thinking he should get something healthy in those soda machines. Things had quieted down just a bit and he’d enjoyed catching up with everyone and getting to know the newcomers just a bit better too. He wasn’t sure how long he could stand things being too quiet, but for now, he’d take it. The missions Maria had lined up for them would help keep him and the team busy at least.

Before he realized it, Steve was standing in front of the windows to the tech lab staring at Tony working on one of the Iron Man armours. He stood there for a long minute, unable to tear his eyes away from Tony. For all his catching up, Tony was the only one he hadn’t been able to chat with more than on the short ride back to earth. They’d gotten back and immediately been thrust into battles and missions and saving the world once again. And then, Tony had locked himself up in the tech lab more often than he was anywhere else, as far as Steve could tell.

Before he lost his nerves, he walked inside the lab. He greeted the agents that were going about their work in a corner, just loud enough so Tony wouldn’t be surprised by his arrival. He did want to get to talk to him, but he wasn’t there to completely startle him. He noticed Tony had stilled for a second upon hearing his voice, but then resumed working as if nothing was amiss. Steve walked slowly towards him, trying to find the right words, the right actions, the right _anything_.

“Um, hi, Tony,” Steve stuttered out, sounding the furthest thing from Captain America that he possibly could, even if he’d tried.

“Hey,” he got back as an answer, Tony not stopping what he was doing – not that Steve could have identified much of what was happening before him. “What can I do you for, Cap?” Tony asked as he stood, moving to tweak something along the neck of the armour now. His tone was impersonal, detached. So different than the Tony that had rescued him. The Tony from before A-Day.

“I just wanted to see how you’re doing,” Steve added quietly.

Tony turned to look at him, as if realizing Steve was there for the first time and really seeing him. He eyed him curiously, Steve unable to stop the blush that crept over him at the sudden attention. Tony smirked a fraction before looking back to the armour in front of him, tinkering on the first thing he could get his hands on.

“I’m fine, Steve. You don’t have to worry about me,” Tony answered just as quietly.

“It’s my job to worry about my team.” The words just flowed out of him automatically and Steve wanted to take them back as soon as they passed his lips.

Tony let out a huff of mirthless laughter and nodded to himself. “Your _team_ is doing just fine, Steve. Thanks for asking.”

Steve took a step towards him, trying to find a way to reach for him but pulling his hand back at the last second. “Tony that’s not-“

“It’s really okay, Steve. Can we just let this go? Please?”

“I don’t want to let this go. Can we talk? Maybe not here?” Steve looked around at the agents that were doing a very horrible job at pretending not to eavesdrop.

“Why? Ashamed to be seen with me or something?” Tony joked, but the smile on his lips didn’t reach his eyes.

“For crying out loud,” Steve bit out the words. He grabbed Tony’s hand, dragging him towards the door with a yelp.

Tony protested as they exited the lab, following Steve at a jog as he pulled them towards the living quarters. They both knew that Tony could escape Steve’s grip if he actually tried. The last thing he would ever want was to hurt anyone on his team, least of all Tony. He held Tony’s hand in his firmly, but with no intention of trapping him against his will. The feeling of Tony’s hand in his felt _right_ and reminded him vividly of that night, five years ago, and he’d be damned if he ever made Tony think he wanted to hurt him.

Steve took the stairs two at a time, headed towards his room when they ran into Kamala coming in the opposite direction.

“Hey, Mister Stark,” she started, stopping when she noticed their joined hands, and no doubt getting the sense of urgency that radiated off Steve. “Um, when you’re not… busy… I was hoping we could chat. About- you know, not important.” She turned around and headed back for her room, making Steve veer in the other direction – the idea of the teenager being in the room next door for this conversation not sitting quite right with him.

“I’ll find you Kamala,” Tony called after her as Steve pulled him towards his own room. “Steve, I think you freaked the kid out.”

Steve shoved his hand against the biometric scanner on the door without a word, pulling both of them inside. “Tony, you can’t keep ignoring m-“ he started before being interrupted.

Tony tackled him, shoving him against the bathroom door behind him, crashing their mouths together as he did. Steve was shocked as he realized what was happening before his brain kicked in, screaming that this was all he’d wanted since he’d opened his eyes and fell into Tony’s arms on that AIM satellite. He let Tony hold him against the door, as he returned the kiss just as intensely as Tony had been giving, his free arm wrapping tightly around Tony’s back.

Tony squeezed Steve’s hand before letting it go, both of his arms reaching around Steve’s neck, pulling him impossibly closer. Steve’s hand went to Tony’s waist, relishing the feel of exposed skin under his fingers. For a few minutes that felt both too short and like they were never ending, hands and lips explored, clutched, nipped, and roamed everywhere they could in a passionate-bordering-on-frantic manner. Their breaths came in ragged intakes, soft needy moans leaving both their lips as well, but neither could bare to let the other go. They had five years to make up for, and they’d be damned if they didn’t try to cram as much of that time into this very moment.

“I missed you. So _fucking_ much, Steve,” Tony breathed against his neck as fierce kisses turned into soft brushes of lips.

“I’m so sorry Tony,” Steve whispered against his ear. He held on to Tony like he would disappear if he let go. He held on to Tony like his life depended on it. And in that moment, it felt like it did. He pulled him in tighter, his hand carding through dark hair in the process as his lips rested against his temple. He breathed in, a deep lungful of air that smelled the same as it had years prior, every note a small piece of Tony. So much had changed, but the ones that had remained the same grounded him.

“I thought you were gone.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

Tony nodded against his cheek. They stood in silence for a beat or ten. Steve wanted to move, to say everything he was feeling, to let the dam burst, and yet he was frozen. Scared of what might come next, or more so what he might lose. He just wanted to enjoy this moment, take all of it in, on the off chance it was the last time Tony let him hold him this way.

He felt Tony shift in his grip and his heart sank. He let his hands fall to his sides, let his lips indulge in one last brush against Tony’s skin as he moved away. He was about to excuse himself, try and save face, when Tony’s fingers curled around his, pulling him forward this time.

“I need to sit down. We didn’t all get an extended beauty sleep, Cap. Some of us aged a bit,” Tony joked. He flopped onto his office chair, rolling it towards the bed where he had to pat on the mattress to convince Steve to sit.

“Tony, I wish… I’m so sorry for what happened. If there was any other way to prevent it-“

“I know, Steve,” Tony cut him off gently. He felt Tony’s hands slide against his own, fingers tangling together. Steve’s eyes stayed on Tony’s face as he seemed to gather his thoughts, his gaze locked firmly on their hands. “Watching that explosion, knowing I couldn’t get to you fast enough was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to watch. I kept replaying it in my head. Tried to imagine what could have caused it. In every single scenario, I knew that whatever choice you’d had to make was for the greater good – whatever that may have meant in that moment.

“And then, this _kid_ … Kamala shows up with Bruce and has this video and JARVIS and…” Tony finally looked at him again. “I had tried, you know, to forget you. Not that I could really move on since the Avengers were basically fugitives. But I tried. Those first few years, you were basically Schrodinger’s Cap-“

“What does the kid from the _Peanuts_ cartoons have to do with me?” Steve asked, making Tony laugh.

“Not Schroeder, Schrodinger. He’s a scientist. Since we’d never found your- _you_ , part of me always wondered if maybe, just _maybe_ you had made it. I had JARVIS running searches all the time – until they took all the toys away at least. There was always a chance you were still alive, you know? It became harder to search when I was on my own in the dessert, and after a while I just couldn’t anymore.” Tony’s grip tightened on Steve’s hands and he looked down before letting his head hang, his last words coming out harshly, tinted with sadness and guilt. “I gave up on you.”

“Tony, you didn’t give up.” Steve moved a hand to his neck, trying to coax him into looking up at him. When Tony didn’t budge, Steve let his head fall on top of his for a moment, unable to resist placing a kiss in his hair. “I was gone for _five years_ , Tony. There was no way you could have known Monica was holding me on a space station! You can _not_ blame yourself for any of this.”

“I should have tried harder to find you, not forget you.”

“You kinda had other things going on.” Steve heard a slight chuckle and he tried again to nudge Tony to look at him, and was oddly relieved when Tony finally tilted his head just enough so he could look at him. “I’m not upset about that Tony. Please don’t think I am. The few times I was awake – or lucid at the very least – all I could think about was you. I had no idea if you were okay after the battle. I just hoped that you’d made it out alive. That you were okay, whatever the world looked like now. That you were happy. It always felt a bit like a dream, and I was never awake very long, but I always thought of you.”

“I thought of you every day,” Tony admitted, eyes shining with tears neither of them wanted to acknowledge.

Steve pulled Tony towards him, kissing him softly like he’d wished he could have done all those times he was awake or dreaming or whatever state it was that AIM kept him in. Like he had wanted to do every time Tony had been close during the celebrations at A-Day. Like he had hoped he’d get to do again for the past few weeks since he’d been back.

He pulled back, smiling at how Tony followed his lips, pouting just a little when he had realized Steve was done kissing him. “I’m sorry you had to deal with all that alone. I would really like it though if, maybe, we could- _I_ could take you out sometime? Finally get that second date we were supposed to have?”

“Well, I don’t usually make a habit of kissing my co-workers so passionately, so I think it’s safe to assume I’d be okay with a date,” Tony replied with a smirk. “Our options are still pretty limited though, Cap. Not everyone is on our side still.”

Steve bobbed his head from side-to-side, pretending to consider it. “I mean, there’s a perfectly acceptable vending machine just down the hall?”

“You sure know how to treat a guy.”

“Like you said, my options _are_ limited and I don’t want to waste any more time,” Steve replied earnestly, making Tony’s breath catch. “Besides, it’s the least I can do for forcing you to grow a sad husband beard.”

Tony looked like his brain had short circuited for a beat. “A wha- sad _husband_ \- what?!”

“Kamala was going on about it with one of the other folks at the Ant-Hill. I was really confused ‘cause they were talking about ships too, and I couldn’t figure out what that had to do with your facial hair.”

“Fuck I missed you,” Tony breathed out as he pounced on Steve’s lap, catching Steve off guard and sending them both tumbling backwards on the bed. Tony kissed him before letting himself fall next to Steve. “It’s not ships like-“ he waved a hand around them, motioning to the Chimera, “it’s a ship like a _relationship_. Remember, we’d talked about this before the fanfic competition at A-Day? I had to warn you there might be some in the submissions. Not sure about the sad husband beard thing though, you’ll need to ask her. I just got too lazy to shave.”

“Well, I think it looks good. Suits you.” Steve ran his fingers over Tony’s cheek, scratching his fingers through his beard. “And, for the record, I missed you too.”

Tony hooked his leg over Steve’s pulling him until he was lying on his side, facing each other. He brought their lips together again, tongues exploring each others’ mouths. Steve felt Tony’s hand move lower on his side, stopping just a bit on his waist before continuing its trek, finally resting on his hip.

“Tony,” Steve warned playfully just as he started to inch it backwards.

“Yes, Captain?” Tony teased with a laugh, just as Steve heard the faint beep of the biometric scanner.

“Mr. Stark I- OH. MY. GOD!” Kamala exclaimed before Steve had a chance to move them to a less compromising position. “Oh shoot, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think you were still here, Cap. I thought- I just- _oh my god_.”

Kamala was bouncing around, trying to contain what was obvious joy and excitement, and some mild embarrassment. Her face betrayed her though. No amount of biting down on her lower lip could keep the giant smile from shining through.

“Kiddo, we talked about this – we knock before coming into each other’s rooms,” Tony groaned as he pushed himself to a sitting position, Steve doing the same. “What’s up?”

“It’s not, um- I can come back, really. I didn’t mean to… interrupt anything.”

“Well, you did,” Tony added, making a high-pitched squeal come out of the young woman, and Steve wondered if she’d explode from sheer excitement. “Okay, enough fangirling for a sec. You can flail all you want after, but I need one minute of seriousness, alright?”

Kamala nodded and regained her composure, or as much of it as she could muster.

“No one knows about this yet. I need you to promise you won’t say anything,” Tony started.

“What do you mean no one knows?” Kamala looked from Tony to Steve a few times before letting out a snort. “ _Everyone_ knows. Or at least, very strongly suspected.”

Steve turned to Tony, who looked just as perplexed as he felt. “How is that possible?”

“Well, I’ve known since A-Day,” Kamala started simply, making her way to the chair Tony had been sitting on earlier. “When things started going south and I was looking for my dad, I kinda saw you two together. It wasn’t much, but the way you grabbed Iron Man’s hand and just… the way you looked at him when you told him to be careful. It wasn’t like when I’d seen you before with Black Widow, Cap.

“And you, Mr. Stark, when we found you at your place-“

“If you say it was the beard, we will have a serious problem.”

Kamala chuckled. “No, it wasn’t _just_ the beard. The way you told Bruce that you failed _him_ on that day. You don’t just say that about your teammate. After that, when I was talking with everyone, they all made comments that hinted at similar behaviour before all this happened. And Thor said you two were seconds away from making out when he found you in space. So yeah. Everyone knows.”

“That’s not- how does that qualify as proof that anything is happening?” Steve asked, exasperated.

“Everyone is really happy for you,” was the answer he got from Kamala, who shrugged the question off.

“Okay, well, can we still not go off writing shippy fanfics about this when you leave this room?” Tony pinned her down with a stare that implied this wouldn’t be the first time it had happened.

“Oh, come _on_ , Mr. Stark!”

“Kamala, I mean it! Just, no using real life details, ‘kay? Your imagination is good enough on its own.”

“Fair enough.” Kamala stood and started making her way to the door, turning one last time before exiting. “I’ll just ask JARVIS to let me know when you’re free or something. I’m- I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“It’s okay, Kamala,” Steve added as she left the room. He shook his head as they both heard her let out another happy screech behind the closed door.

“JARVIS, she’s doing a happy dance in the hallway, isn’t she?” Tony asked.

“Ms. Khan is looking quite jovial indeed, sir,” the AI replied, as Tony let his forehead drop on Steve’s shoulder.

“She still writes? She hadn’t mentioned that.”

“Yeah. I think it helps her process some things now that she’s got powers of her own. A bit of a stress reliever? She’s good too. And, thankfully, she tends to focus more on Avengers in battle, so nothing too embarrassing for us.” Tony finally looked at Steve with a small smile, moving a finger between the two of them. “At least everyone is happy about this?”

“I don’t care what anyone else thinks, Tony. I mean, it is nice to know, but it wouldn’t change how I feel about you.” Steve placed a kiss to Tony’s forehead, earning him a brighter smile from the other man. “How about that date then?”

“You wanna go now? There’s SHIELD agents all over that place you know.”

“I just told you – don’t care what they think. And besides, they all know already apparently,” Steve teased.

Tony nodded. “Sure. Let’s go.”

Steve stood, offering his hand to Tony who took it without hesitation.

“Tony? Is that my jacket?” Steve asked, as he was making his way towards the door, noticing what was definitely his jacket – the one he’d worn on their date – hanging by Tony’s bed.

“Um, yeah. I just- we all grieve differently, okay?” Tony started defensively, making Steve smile.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. Just, surprised to see it here.”

“I was going to give it back at some point.”

“You don’t have to. I would like my diary back though.” Steve looked back at him with a smirk.

“Hm, we can discuss during our date. I have questions for you, Captain.”

Steve rolled his eyes fondly as the left Tony’s room. “Of course, you do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this one! There might be a few more coming for this 'verse. They are too fun not to write!  
> Happy weekend!!


End file.
